Death of Loved One

What’s Memorable: I think what I’ll remember most is her saying “This isn’t the person I want to be” right before agreeing to treatment. You could tell it was a powerful moment for her.

Official Synopsis: At the age of 22, Shiann has already faced a lifetime of pain. The shocking death of her sister, a diagnosis of A.S., a progressive and debilitating disease, and an unexpected divorce, sent this once vivacious fitness model and bodybuilder down a path of meth-fueled binges. With no help in sight, her family fears losing another loved one to an early death.

What’s Memorable: Damn, that followup. She looked so much healthier, it was amazing.

Official Synopsis: Jasmine was extremely close to her grandparents, Reg and Pauline, so when Pauline suddenly passed away, Jasmine couldn’t cope and turned to opioids to erase the pain. Amazingly, Jasmine got control of her addiction and her life gained some new additions: a new career, a new boyfriend and a new baby. But when her relationship became abusive, Jasmine descended back into drugs. After losing custody of her three-year-old son, her use escalated to smoking fentanyl, a habit that costs her $1200 a day. As her family readies themselves for the intervention, they get devastating news: Reg has cancer.

What’s Memorable: The whole weird situation with his sister on a night when he was high was disturbing. I hope he’s made amends for that because it clearly affected his sister Katie, she obviously needs some closure there. I love that when he got to treatment he was immediately motivated to commit himself to recovery and really make an effort. I love it when they do that! All in all a powerful and heartwarming episode.

Official Synopsis: Handsome, talented musician’s promising career is sideswiped by crystal meth, plunging him into a life of crime, prostitution, and addiction. (Canadian produced.)

What’s Memorable: Kathy is obviously a very smart, vibrant, fun, strong woman when she’s not high or trying to get high. She had ROUGH childhood, and adulthood for that matter, so it’s not shocking that she would turn to drugs. But she did so great for a while and her slide from where she once was is so unsettling. Her misery about being who she is right now, while simultaneously demanding to be able to stay that way, is a difficult thing to watch. I had high hopes for her recovery, too bad it didn’t take. Hopefully she’ll get herself into treatment and get back to being who she really is.

Official Synopsis: Wealthy entrepreneur loses everything to crack, reducing her life to a never ending cycle of prostitution and begging. (Canadian produced.)

Official Synopsis: Rob was already a successful business owner when he inherited over a million dollars and several valuable properties from his father. But after his father’s recent death, Rob, a former crack addict, picked up the pipe again after years of sobriety. In just 12 months, Rob has blown through 200k of his inheritance, has shut down his once thriving business, and now his wife and family fear for his life.

What’s Memorable: The fact that the episode takes place on a reservation. For one, it’s been a while since we’ve seen anyone profiled who isn’t white. (The racial & cultural diversity on this show is seriously lacking). Second, this episode was a bit of a historical and cultural education about why American Indians have a high rate of addiction and that suboxone is becoming a drug of choice. Third, Jonel’s mother explained that talking about what happens on the reservation to people on the outside is highly discouraged, so for this family to reach out to Intervention and be willing to talk about their family on TV shows how much they love her and need her to get help. There is a lot of love in this family and it showed. So glad Jonel accepted treatment and stayed there long enough to get solid in her sobriety. That’s just what she needed.

Official Synopsis: Jonel was born into the Blackfeet Indian Tribe in Montana. When she was 9 months pregnant, her boyfriend was tragically killed in a car accident and then she gave birth to her daughter just days after the funeral. Shocked and grief stricken, Jonel began using suboxone and meth – two drugs that are rampant on the reservation. 14 months ago, Jonel gave birth to her second child who was born addicted to suboxone.

UPDATE: Karissa Hilts was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Florida on March 8, 2017. By all accounts she was sober at the time. Here is her obituary.

What’s Memorable: Despite her intimidating and manipulative behavior, Karissa is still somehow very likable. It’s not a mystery why she became an addict given her childhood traumas, but it’s clear that if she wasn’t addicted she would be such a cool person to be around. Also: That family diner has such personality, but it was disturbing to me what the non-family employees had to deal with everyday. I mean that’s a borderline abusive working environment, having to be witness to all that and pretend to not be affected. The idea that Karissa thinks she’s a ‘functional junkie’ because she gets up in the morning to go to work shows how deluded she is about what “functional’ means. Leaving work to go lie to the doctor in order to get Suboxone and immediately selling it for 10 bags of heroin and then needing people to stay up watching you all night with an overdose kit at hand because they’re afraid you’ve taken too many benzos with your heroin and you might die – that is not functional. I’m so glad Karissa made it and as of February 2016 is still sober. She deserves such a better life.

Official Synopsis: Karissa was always a talented cook – so much so, that her mother had one day hoped to pass the family diner down to her as a legacy. But Karissa’s life took a drastic turn when a close family friend fed her Oxycodone, and then ultimately made her a drug courier. From there Karissa was lost. Now, years of self-abuse, self-medication, and a severe addiction to heroin have left her volatile and desperate. Her family fears that if she does not heal from her violent past and the childhood she lost, she will never have the future she deserves.

What’s Memorable: Given the dramatic spiral from success to rock bottom, non-functional alcoholism, it’s a shame the show didn’t spend a little more time on how Kacy got to this place she’s in now. The trauma she endured and how it affected it her deserved more than what felt like a mention in passing. Seemed like the producers were overly focused on the shock factor of how bad her addiction was. Anyway, a few things she said gave me chills. “I’m scared to death…of not having the next drink.” And when she’s walking home from the liquor store in her pajamas, talking about how just having the alcohol in the house calmed her down and made her feel like it was gonna be okay. Yeah. I can relate to that. The followup was brutal, I wish there was more information given about what put her in the hospital.

Official Synopsis: A successful businesswoman who became a multimillionaire in her 20’s, Kacy tragically lost her infant child to SIDS. She then lost her fortune, her marriage and a healthy relationship with her surviving children as she spiralled into binge drinking. Now penniless, she is hospitalised multiple times a month, and her family is desperate to save her life.

Official Synopsis: After his mother died, Kayne turned to drugs to cope, which eventually cost him his marriage and the custody of his children. This drove him further into his addition and now he spends each day getting high on a deadly combination of heroin and Xanax.

AmandaAge: 29Location: Festus, MissouriAddiction: HeroinWhat’s memorable: “I want extreme numbness. I want to get as far away from myself as I possibly can.”

Official Synopsis: Amanda’s world was thrown into a tailspin when her husband went missing for months. When his body was finally found, the victim of a high profile murder, she went off the deep end and found escape in drugs. Now her children are in state custody and she’s shooting heroin to cope.

Legacy Update: As of Jackie R’s episode, James is doing great and is the Director of Operations at a sober living house. Yay James! Here’s the video.

Official Synopsis: When James first tried meth, he’d thought he’d found a wonder drug to give him the energy for a demanding job, marraige, and fatherhood. But the resulting addiction and sprial took all of those things away from him. Now his ex-wife is trying to save his life so their sons will have a chance to know their father.

DanielAge: 29Location: Omaha, NebraskaAddiction: Alcohol, some methWhat’s memorable: This kid had a rough life, no surprise he drinks too much. But wow does he drink too much. And the way he gets when he’s drunk: self-absorbed, messy, emotional, intimidating, dominant. I’ve known a lot of people who get like this when they’re drunk and they’re incredibly difficult to be around if you’re not just as drunk as they are. Which brings us to his relationship with his girlfriend Sarrah. He says “I’d give up my whole family for Sarrah” but their connection is probably based more on a shared love of drinking than anything else. (I’ve been in several eerily similar drunken relationships. They were intense and unhealthy and entirely dependent on alcohol to survive. They never ended well). I don’t recall if they show said she got sober too but I really hope so. I love what Daniel said after he accepted treatment: “How am I gonna turn all these people down? Everyone I love?” Seems like that’s the reason why a lot of the addicts on this show accept the treatment. Intervention works, dammit!

Synopsis: Daniel could have pursued a career as a songwriter, but a series of personal tragedies culminating in his father’s death led him to abuse a dangerous combination of alcohol and meth. Recently Daneil resumed a romantic relationship with Sarrah, a fellow addict who supplies Daniel with alcohol, and their booze-fuled nights escalate his already serious addiciton to deadly lows.Original Air Date: April 2015Interventionist: Candy

TheresaAge: 43Location: Raceland, LouisianaAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s memorable: She’s been an alcoholic for 25 years, suffers from cirrhosis, drinks beer from her bed all day long unless she goes to the one bar in town that hasn’t 86’d her yet. The argument with her daughter was hard to watch. I enjoyed her follow up with Candy – she seemed down to earth and realistic but grateful that her health was improving so much and committed to her sobriety.

Synopsis: Theresa swore she wouldn’t end up like her mother who was a raging alcoholic. However, years later after several failed relationships and children, Theresa finds herself drinking uncontrollably–to the point that even cirrhosis of the liver isn’t enough to make her stop. Her daughter says she’s at rock bottom, close to death, and her family knows that an intervention is their last hope.Original Air Date: April 2015Interventionist: Candy

LaurenAge: 35Location: San Jose, CaliforniaAddiction: HeroinWhat’s memorable: Panhandling on the street to get money for gas to get to her daughter’s birthday party, then getting it and spending it on heroin instead and having to come up with $20 more dollars, all while the family waits for her to get there. That was hard to watch. She looked happy and healthy at the end, so glad she and her boyfriend got and stayed clean.

Official Synopsis: At 14, Lauren was forced to become caretaker to her ill father. By 18, she was a mother herself. Seven years and three kids later, Lauren’s father died and she turned to pills to cope.

MikeAge: 44Location: Goshen, OhioAddiction: HeroinWhat’s memorable: Snorting heroin (I haven’t seen that before), his constant lies and excuses, the way he treats his wife, leaving rehab early because withdrawal was uncomfortable. I really hope he has managed to stay sober since then, he was incredibly sick.

Official Synopsis: Mike lost his brother to cancer and his sister to suicide. This triggered a tragic downward spiral. Mike’s nightly habit of having a few beers quickly turned into raging alcoholism. Mike agreed to give up drinking. Unfortunately, he replaced alcohol with heroin.

DanaAge: 33Location: Alvin, TexasAddiction: Pain killers, crackWhat’s memorable: This is one of those addict stories that begins entirely with a horrendously traumatic incident. It’s also one where no one really blames her for becoming addicted and wanting to numb out. Few of us could ever imagine the pain that losing 3 children at one time would cause. It’s simply unfathomable. The fact that she still has one child left is her saving grace.

Official Synopsis: Once a vibrant supermom, Dana numbs the haunting memories of almost dying in an apartment fire with a dangerous cocktail of crack and prescription pills.

AnthonyAge: 22Location: Wayne County, IndianaAddiction: Alcohol (vodka)What’s memorable: “It’s a sick love affair and I’m a hopeless romantic.” – Anthony. Oh, Anthony. Such a sad lost soul. His alcoholism is so advanced for his age, he’s been hospitalized 12 times in 3 months for alcohol poisoning. And what a mess he is when he’s drunk. He’s got a very sad and tragic story, never feeling welcome in his own family and losing his brother after taking care of him and even donating his bone marrow. The followup is uplifting, really hope it took.

Official Synopsis:
From an early age, Anthony’s father made him feel worthless. His parents divorced, and his mother remarried, but she was still unhappy and turned to alcohol and drugs. It was little wonder, then, that Anthony began drinking at age 13. Another blow came when Anthony’s younger brother died of leukemia. Anthony spiraled downward, and now he drinks half a gallon of vodka a day and takes whatever drugs he can find.

JackieAge: 52Location: Salisbury, North Carolina?Addiction: Alcohol (wine)What’s memorable: It’s sad how Jackie says she isn’t an alcoholic but hides her wine bottles around the house and wraps them up when she throws them out so she doesn’t have to hear the clinking. Not to mention having completely lost her daughter as a result of her drinking.

Official Synopsis:
Once known as the “the prettiest girl in town,” Jackie had a promising career as a radiation therapist. She became a wealthy doctor’s wife, a country club member, and a proud mother. But Jackie was haunted by childhood traumas. She was devastated when her father died when she was 13. And as an overweight adolescent, she was teased with the nickname “Fat Jack” and felt she was never as good as her pretty sister. After Jackie’s second pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, she turned to alcohol. She’s had three failed stints in rehab and an ugly divorce. Today, Jackie drinks two bottles of wine a day and regularly suffers broken bones and bruises in her drunken state.

DianaAge: 40’s?Location: Roseville, CaliforniaAddiction: Meth, Alcohol, NorcoWhat’s memorable: How far she’s fallen, with the homelessness and prostitution and abusive boyfriend. Her emotionless and seemingly uncaring mother (i.e. “There are times I should have pretended to care more than I did”) and how she refused to tell her she loved her even at the intervention. Most of all, her kids. How much they adore her and care about her, how emotional they are about seeing where she’s at now. The post-rehab airport reunion at the end was so full of love and joy, it was beyond heartwarming. This was a truly powerful family story and reminded me of why I love this show so much. “I can’t believe my family gives that much of a shit about me. Unbelievable” – Diana. That is the point of Intervention right there.

Official Synopsis: Former ‘Super Mom’ to her three children, Diana has exchanged her apron for an alcohol and meth addiction and is unraveling her marriage, family and sense of self-respect.

ElenaAge: 63Location: Fortuna, CaliforniaAddiction: Meth, PainkillersWhat’s memorable: A lovable lady, this one, despite being pretty damn loopy. This is a very real and touching story, from Elena’s conflicts with her family over being a lesbian and the tragic loss of her partner, to the heartwarming and awesome followup. This is the first Intervention episode about an elderly meth addict.

Official Synopsis: Elena, 63, has no intentions of stopping her daily meth addiction, even though her children and grandchildren desperately want their adoring grandmother to get well.

What’s memorable: What a messed up family she comes from. Her father pretty much ignored her once he had a son and now he outright considers her an investment gone bad. Also, the mother who writes books about being married to a muslim terrorist, and the creepy boyfriend. Wonder what happened to that guy? They don’t mention him after those couple of disturbing scenes. Also, Zeinah’s intervention is one of the most powerful I’ve seen. “I’m not scared of going to fucking rehab, it’s failing I’m scared of.”

Official Synopsis: Once a successful, outstanding student, Zeinah turned to drugs to deal with the drama-filled divorce between her Christian mother and Muslim father. After her husband overdosed, her drug use increased, and she lost custody of her daughter. Can Zeinah’s family forget their grudges and religious differences to come together and save her from her prescription pill death spiral?

RichardAge: 34Location: Toronto, Ontario, CanadaAddiction: MethWhat’s memorable: The pain and abuse he suffered as a child, how delusional he is about how meth is affecting his life and what he thinks it does for him, the non-intervention, the icky and sad predilection toward incest-themed sexual encounters. “I’ve been anticipating the desires of adult males since I was 5 years old.” – Richard.

Official Synopsis: A 34-year-old gay man, Richard grew up knowing he was different and never feeling accepted. His stepfather disciplined him severely for his effeminate behavior. Today, Richard lives in subsidized housing and has done everything from dealing to prostituting himself to support his meth addiction. Richard’s family will have to make amends to him if they hope to get through to him.

PamAge: 49Location: UnsureAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s memorable: How needy and depressed and downright annoying she gets when she’s drunk, the childhood abuse that still haunts her everyday and that she is obviously self-medicating to deal with.

Official Synopsis: Pam is a 49-year-old alcoholic who has suffered a string of abusive, failed marriages and horrific molestation as a child. Drinking is her only way to cope. Her frightened family has already lost one sibling to cirrhosis of the liver. Their greatest fear is that Pam will fall to the same fate unless an intervention can save her life.

Update: A friend has let us know that Nik died on November 29, 2014 after having surgery. Read more here.

Official Synopsis: Beloved by his five sisters and his teenage son, Nik 35, was the glue that holds his large family together. He was a proud college graduate who became the director of a multi-million-dollar casino chain at a young age. But now Nik is a homeless drug addict. Four years ago, after a debilitating back injury, he became addicted to OxyContin. His addiction worsened and he turned to heroin. Now Nik has lost his job, his home, and custody of his son.

JenniferAge: 22Location: Mesa, ArizonaAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s memorable: I’d like to have sympathy for Jennifer, she’s been through a lot, but she’s got such a bad attitude and is so ungrateful and annoying, it’s pretty hard. It’s interesting how she believes that drinking alone is a sign of alcoholism, so she drags her reluctant friends around with her while she drinks. Also, her obsession with parties and how she goes to random parties that she finds on MySpace and gets wasted. Sketchball.

Official Synopsis: Once an effervescent, beautiful young woman, Jennifer was considered a genius by her teachers and was the pride and joy of her parents. But at age 17, Jennifer was involved in a car accident that caused a brain injury and kidney damage. Jennifer survived, but only three days after she left the hospital another family car accident ended in a fatality. Jennifer turned to drugs and alcohol to cope and now spends her days searching for parties or drinking companions. Her parents know that only an intervention can save her.

What’s memorable: This one hits close to home more than any other. I come from a poor Pacific Northwest logging town, raised and surrounded by loggers and mill workers who snorted crank like other people drink coffee. Coley, his lifestyle, the way he uses, is intimately familiar to me in a way that actually makes me uncomfortable to watch. ANYWAY, since this isn’t about ME…Coley and Francine’s story is powerful. Their love is so strong, and they’re such good people. What else is memorable – Coley so focused on finding the burl, risking his life for it. Doing lines in the garage. (Again, a personal connection to that). The amazing and inspiring follow up.

Official Synopsis: As a timber cutter, Coley has one of the most dangerous jobs in America. But instead of taking serious precautions, he increases his risks every day by snorting crystal meth. Because of his addiction, Coley’s business is falling apart. His wife can barely stand to talk to him any more and his relationship with his three young children is deteriorating. They all believe his only hope is rehab, but will he be willing to go before it’s too late?

What’s memorable: I can’t begin to imagine the guilt and pain that Tyler feels over his siblings’ overdoes deaths, considering he was the one who introduced them both to heroin, they died within weeks of each other, and he found them both. This is one of those where I have no problem at all understanding why the guy needs to numb out every day. What’s awful about that is that he’s on his way to dying too, and if or when he goes his parents will have lost ALL of their children to drugs. So unimaginably tragic.

Official Synopsis: A gifted mechanic, Tyler, 26, worked in the family business with his brother, Zach, and his sister, Ashley. Their father built the business to provide his children with a wonderful life. But the family’s dreams turned to tragedy when Tyler found both Zach and Ashley dead from drug overdoses. Unable to cope with his loss, Tyler now fills his days with drugs and alcohol

MarquelAge: 30Location: South Beach, FloridaAddiction: Alcohol, bulimia, exerciseWhat’s memorable: This episode makes the “unforgettable episodes” category on account of 1) the intervention that didn’t happen as a result of her roommate figuring out it was the Intervention cameras, and telling her about it and 2) Marquel’s serious denial about her various addictions.

Official Synopsis: Working as a fitness instructor at the most elite gyms and partying on the club circuit at night, Marquel seems to have the perfect life. But her family sees her exercise regime as obsessive-compulsive, and they watch her binge-drinking episodes end up in hospitalizations. They believe she is an exercise addict, bulimic, and alcoholic, and they have turned to interventionist Candy for help.

AshleyAge: 20Location: Las Vegas. NevadaAddiction: Heroin (black tar) and XanaxWhat’s memorable: Oh, that hacking. At 20 years old she can’t breathe, has to use a nebulizer several times a day just to survive. Also, the strange relationships with her mother & aunt, the snorting off the sidewalk using a tampon applicator.

Official Synopsis: Ashley was raised by a mother who was addicted to methamphetamines and gambling. Ashley flourished when her aunt and uncle became her legal guardians, but she started using heroin when her beloved grandfather died. Now she bounces back and forth between her rigid aunt’s house and her permissive mother’s house, and she’s developed serious asthma from smoking heroin. The family fears that Ashley will soon overdose and die.

ShaneAge: 26Location: Scottsdale, ArizonaAddiction: Oxycontin primarily, but also Percocet, Vicodin, Xanax, etc.What’s memorable: Dude gets HIGH on those pills, man. Can’t even keep his eyes open. The relationship with his addict dad is interesting, how far he went down after his death. Also, the delusions about his Italian ancestry is fascinating. He’s clearly just desperately searching for an identity and has been for a long time.

Official Synopsis: A talented cellist and an aspiring music producer, Shane’s musical aspirations are now out of reach because he abuses prescription drugs and deals drugs out of his grandmother’s house. After injuring his neck in a car accident, he began abusing OxyContin. His father was a drug addict, too, who died from an overdose. Now Shane is following in his father’s deadly footsteps–can an intervention break the cycle?